Thursday, April 17, 2014

I have not really been able to blog much in the past 2 months due to an injury that occurred when my C6/C7 disc in my neck herniated and decided to pinch off the nerve in my arm. Since then it's been pretty much uninterrupted pain 24/7 which made doing anything such as typing, walking, modeling, etc... just ridiculously painful.

So on April 14th, I decided to go ahead and have surgery to fix this issue and by God it worked! So I return triumphant and ready to get my hobby on (as soon as I can bend my neck and turn my head that is - still wearing a neckbrace for a few more days)!

My surgeon did live up to all my expectations when he came out to update my wife after everything was done and said in his best Obi-won Kenobi voice "He's more machine now than man, twisted and evil."

So personal update aside - I return with a new zest and excitement for the next few months as the Wood Elves are rumored to be out in May! After a long and I do mean long awaited release of a new book, (2005 to be exact) I eagerly await to see how they have changed or better yet updated my favorite army.

Many rumors state that they are getting rid of the Eternal Guard, making everything skirmishers, etc.. I am not going to concern myself with any of that until the new book has been released. Based upon the relatively solidness of the last 2 elf books and the dwarfs, I can safely surmise that the Wood Elves will be just fine and my enjoyment in this hobby will continue.

I also eagerly await the 3rd book in the Wood Elf triology - The Council of Beasts. The last book, Tears of Isha, had me very nervous as to how they are going to move forward with the Wood Elves lore wise. Darius Hinks has done a pretty good job of instilling this idea of "noble savagery" to the Wood Elves. Rather than the cold and overly regal demeanor that you see in High Elves or the cruelty and malevolence in Dark Elves; the Wood Elves have been portrayed (to me) as a very shamanistic and clannish society that still has a caste system. Also, the alliance between forest spirits and the Asrai (Wood Elves) seems to be strained at best, more of a barely tolerable arrangement where the Asrai treat the Forest Spirits like a dog with distemper - fierce and can turn on you at any moment. There also seems to be an ancient and dark magic rather that permeates the woods of Athel Loren, I have not decided if it is 100% good or evil but rather just ..feral. I eagerly await the next book!

So I think that perhaps the authors of the new Wood Elf army book and Darius Hinks will have redefined how the Wood elf army is perceived as well as played in the next book.

In an effort to maintain my sanity and the sanity of my wife, I have put all hobby projects on hold. I will be waiting for 2 weeks for the new Wood Elf book and then I shall unload the hobby Armageddon as I recreate the Great Hunt once again! I will also be reviewing each unit and playtesting heavily to see how they function for a whole new Wood Elf: Tactica!

For now, I'll try to fit in a few book reviews until our great event occurs!